NKorea warns of more nuclear, rocket activity

Updated 9:28 pm, Wednesday, March 13, 2013

In this March 7, 2013 photo released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and distributed March 8, 2013 by the Korea News Service, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, uses binoculars to look at the South's territory from an observation post at the military unit on Jangjae islet, located in the southernmost part of the southwestern sector of North Korea's border with South Korea. Seven years of U.N. sanctions against North Korea have done nothing to derail Pyongyangs drive for a nuclear weapon capable of hitting the United States. They may have even bolstered the Kim family by giving their propaganda maestros ammunition to whip up anti-U.S. sentiment and direct attention away from government failures. (AP Photo/KCNA via KNS) JAPAN OUT UNTIL 14 DAYS AFTER THE DAY OF TRANSMISSION

In this March 7, 2013 photo released by the Korean Central News...

A Mercedes car passes through a strip of sunlight on a street in central Pyongyang, North Korea on Friday, March 8, 2013. The U.N. Security Council responded swiftly to North Korea's latest nuclear test by punishing the reclusive regime Thursday with tough, new sanctions targeting its economy and leadership, despite Pyongyang's threat of a pre-emptive nuclear strike on the United States. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

A Mercedes car passes through a strip of sunlight on a street in...

In this March 7, 2013 photo released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and distributed March 8, 2013 by the Korea News Service, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, walks with military personnel as he arrives for a military unit on Mu Islet, located in the southernmost part of the southwestern sector of North Korea's border with South Korea. Seven years of U.N. sanctions against North Korea have done nothing to derail Pyongyangs drive for a nuclear weapon capable of hitting the United States. They may have even bolstered the Kim family by giving their propaganda maestros ammunition to whip up anti-U.S. sentiment and direct attention away from government failures. (AP Photo/KCNA via KNS) JAPAN OUT UNTIL 14 DAYS AFTER THE DAY OF TRANSMISSION

In this March 7, 2013 photo released by the Korean Central News...

In this March 7, 2013 photo released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and distributed March 8, 2013 by the Korea News Service, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with military officials, gets a ride on a boat on his way to a military unit on Jangjae Islet, located in the southernmost part of the southwestern sector of North Korea's border with South Korea. Seven years of U.N. sanctions against North Korea have done nothing to derail Pyongyangs drive for a nuclear weapon capable of hitting the United States. They may have even bolstered the Kim family by giving their propaganda maestros ammunition to whip up anti-U.S. sentiment and direct attention away from government failures. (AP Photo/KCNA via KNS) JAPAN OUT UNTIL 14 DAYS AFTER THE DAY OF TRANSMISSION

In this March 7, 2013 photo released by the Korean Central News...

In this March 7, 2013 photo released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and distributed March 8, 2013 by the Korea News Service, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, is welcomed by military personnel at a military unit on Jangjae islet, located in the southernmost part of the southwestern sector of North Korea's border with South Korea. Seven years of U.N. sanctions against North Korea have done nothing to derail Pyongyangs drive for a nuclear weapon capable of hitting the United States. They may have even bolstered the Kim family by giving their propaganda maestros ammunition to whip up anti-U.S. sentiment and direct attention away from government failures. (AP Photo/KCNA via KNS) JAPAN OUT UNTIL 14 DAYS AFTER THE DAY OF TRANSMISSION

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea is warning of future nuclear and rocket efforts that it says are warranted because of new U.N. sanctions over its third nuclear test.

The statement Saturday from an unidentified Foreign Ministry spokesman builds on a torrent of warlike threats from Pyongyang in the wake of the sanctions, which North Korea says are an indication of U.S. hostility.

The sanction, approved Thursday, target North Korea's ruling class.

U.N. diplomats say the sanctions will hurt leader Kim Jong Un. But others argue they may actually bolster him by allowing officials to whip up anti-U.S. sentiment and direct attention away from government failures.

Pyongyang's statement says "the world will clearly see what permanent position" it will take to "reinforce as a nuclear weapons state and satellite launcher" because of the sanctions.